Above, police arrest young passengers in car that ran a stoplight at Avenue A and Houston St. Below, an officer led off one of the teenagers, whose face was covered with blood after the accident.

Hit and run, literally, from Avenue A crash

A police car chase of a driver who ran a stoplight ended in a two-car crash at Avenue A and E. First St. at 10:30 p.m. Tues., March 22, police said. The driver of the offending car fled and a passenger in his car was arrested for possession of marijuana, police said.

Despite the second car ending up on the sidewalk inches from the building where Nice Guy Eddies bar is located on the northwest corner of Avenue A and E. First St. near Houston St., only two people sustained minor injuries and refused hospitalization, police said.

The driver of the offending car was trying to evade the patrol car from the Manhattan South Task Force when he struck the second car, leaped out of the vehicle and fled on foot, police said. Police impounded the first car to determine the true owner, but the vehicle was not classified as stolen.

It was the loudest crash I ever heard, and I was in my office on the second floor of 9 Avenue A at least a block away, said David McWater, owner of Nice Guy Eddies and chairperson of Community Board 3. The accident scene attracted dozens of passersby and about 30 cops, McWater said. The talk among people on the street was that the first car had been stolen by teenagers on Avenue D, McWater added.

Police did not identify the passenger charged with marijuana possession and did not reveal the name of the driver of the second car. The incident is still under investigation.